


fall just a little

by ByTheAngell (SomeLittleInfamy)



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-04 23:46:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15851892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeLittleInfamy/pseuds/ByTheAngell
Summary: Isabelle gets close to Clary to help Jace win her over, but how close can she get before starting to fall herself?





	fall just a little

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an under 500 word prompt challenge: "It was you the whole time."

When Jace came to her for advice on getting Clary to date him, Isabelle rolled her eyes before agreeing to help. It was easy at first, seemingly harmless - she knew Clary from a few classes, and between her love of art, anime, and some weird music her friend Simon was into, picking date ideas or conversation topics was simple. 

But once they started dating, everything changed. It was gradual at first; Isabelle didn’t even notice until it was too late. The longer Jace had her doing recon for inside information, the longer she spent around Clary (then Simon and Maia) the more ingrained she became in Clary’s life. Izzy told Jace all the right things to say but every moment Clary found herself falling for Jace, every moment that brought her back when things seemed questionable, was a moment prompted by something Isabelle suggested. Playlists curated by Izzy that Jace gave as an apology after fighting, Izzy remembering her favorite flowers and candies to remind him when he forgot. It was Isabelle who knew her best, investing herself in the things she looked into ‘for Jace’. 

She didn’t realize she was falling for Clary watching the way she chewed the top of her pencil in art class, eyes lingering on delicate fingers pulling long red hair into an elastic before gym, how she laughed unabashedly while missing every wild swing during their badmitten attempts. When she came over to spend time with Jace Isabelle found herself making excuses to be around them, around her, until Jace realized what was happening even before she did. 

He cut off her help immediately. 

“I’ve got this from here.” 

“Oh, alright,” she shrugged. She told herself she could back off now - she didn’t need to watch her for things to feed to Jace, but that’s when she realized what Jace already saw. She wasn’t doing it for Jace, not any more. She was doing it for Clary… and for herself. In helping Jace try to win over Clary, she’d fallen in love with all of her little quirks these past few weeks. 

Without her insight, Jace floundered. He said all the wrong things at the worst moments, and while he had the best intentions his instinct to push others away when he felt frustrated hurt Clary one too many times. Isabelle found her crying under the bleachers one day after school and attempted to comfort her. 

Clary sniffled at her kind words. “That sounds like something Jace used to say to make me feel better.” She said, and Izzy looked down and away guiltily. 

“Oh my god… it was never him, was it?” 

Izzy blushed fiercely, gaze still diverted, silent. 

“It was you the whole time.” 

She looked up expecting to be met with anger, or disgust, but instead there was nothing but endearment. And when Clary leaned in slowly, giving her all the time in the world to say something or move away, Izzy only smiled against her lips as they met.

**Author's Note:**

> This may be the only thing I ever managed to keep under 500 words? Let me know how I did! Short and concise is far from my usual so it was DEFINITELY a challenge!
> 
> (Find me on [Tumblr](http://bytheangell.tumblr.com))


End file.
